


and it was pretty much the best underwater miss of all time

by riptide_anaklusmos



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Post-The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson), Pre-The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson), annabeth is a simp too pretends she isn't shh, basically just soft percabeth, hand holding!, hugs!, im sorry this sucks, no the title is not a typo just keep reading, percy is a simp spread the word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25566979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riptide_anaklusmos/pseuds/riptide_anaklusmos
Summary: Perce. It was a nickname only she (and his mom of course) called him. Though, he preferred “Seaweed Brain” (but he would rather die than have her find that out) because it reminded him of how far they’ve come. From twelve year-olds who bickered incessantly to fifteen year-olds who… well, honestly, Percy wasn’t really sure what they were doing. Ever since Annabeth’s quest in the Labyrinth, Rachel, Calypso, Luke, and their kiss (especially their kiss) things between them had been a bit... off. There was some lingering tension, but whether it was good or bad varied from day to day.orPercy just wants to hang out with Annabeth without getting caught and Annabeth is just an awkward teen who hates being vulnerable. This is the first time Percy takes Annabeth into an underwater bubble.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 19
Kudos: 139





	and it was pretty much the best underwater miss of all time

**Author's Note:**

> this is literally just pure fluff i wrote at 4 am because i'm lonely.

As much as Percy loved food, like seriously _loved_ it, meals at Camp Half-Blood kind of sucked. 

It wasn’t the food that he disliked, more the loneliness that came with it. Because he was by himself at the Poseidon table, Percy pretty much always ate in silence. Sometimes he would watch the other campers laugh along with their siblings, but it just made him sadder. Well, watching a certain camper laugh didn’t make Percy sad, but he didn’t like to think about that for too long, or else he just gets confused. 

Percy has sat alone during meals before. More times than he could even count, if he’s being honest. He never really had many friends at school, but he never really minded. Percy didn’t really feel like he belonged at any of those schools anyway. But it’s different at camp. Here, Percy does have friends and he does belong. He just wished he was allowed to sit at a table with Grover or something, but it was against the rules to switch tables. Well, one time Annabeth moved tables to sit next to him... 

That wasn’t important. What was important was that after the meals, Percy was excited he got to talk to his friends again. He looked around for Beckendorf, seeing as he was one of his closest friends. When his eyes landed on him and Silena, Percy decided he was going to be a good friend and not interrupt whatever _that_ was. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was them. 

Percy turned to Grover’s usual table but saw him running off with Juniper into the woods. Now Percy _definitely_ didn’t want to interrupt that. As much as he loved his best friend, sometimes he got too caught up in this whole girlfriend thing. In fact, it seemed most people at this point were dating other campers. Well, everyone except Percy and... 

“Annabeth! Hey!” Percy greeted her as she walked away from Malcolm. 

Annabeth smiled at him, and it made her heart rate pick up a bit. “Hey, Perce,” she said. 

_Perce_. It was a nickname only she (and his mom of course) called him. Though, he preferred “Seaweed Brain” (but he would rather die than have her find that out) because it reminded him of how far they’ve come. From twelve year-olds who bickered incessantly to fifteen year-olds who… well, honestly, Percy wasn’t really sure what they were doing. Ever since Annabeth’s quest in the Labyrinth, Rachel, Calypso, Luke, and their kiss (especially their kiss) things between them had been a bit... off. There was some lingering tension, but whether it was good or bad varied from day to day. 

Some days, they couldn’t be in the same room with each other without getting into some kind of petty argument, though, it was usually lighthearted and playful. Beckendorf tried to call it flirting but Percy doesn’t seem to think so. Those are what Percy called “the good days.” Other days, he would accidentally bring up Rachel or Luke, which would lead to fights that would cause Annabeth to storm off in either tears or anger, but it was usually a mix of both. Percy called those “the awful days.” No matter how much it upset him while they were having those arguments, it was nothing compared to the aftermath. It was a cycle of Percy feeling bad for hurting Annabeth’s feelings, then feeling angry (and confused why) he felt bad, then guilt for feeling angry. Even just thinking about it made his heart sink. 

One good thing did come out of this tension though, and Percy called them “the amazing days.” Those were the days where he and Annabeth would hang out, and it would feel like the warmest hug he’s ever gotten. Sometimes they would do their head counselor chores together, or she would teach about the constellations at night, just like when they were kids. But Percy’s favorite thing to do with her is sit at the shore and just be. They would talk about everything from school, to family, to conspiracy theories, to favorite TV shows and movies. Or, they would just sit in silence. Just soaking up the other’s presence. Neither of them dared to say it, but they both knew that maybe they wouldn’t be able to do this after Percy turned sixteen. Instead, if he was feeling particularly brave that day he would reach out and interlace their fingers. And sometimes, Annabeth would rest her head on his shoulder. As amazing as that was, this _was_ a camp with rowdy teenagers. If they ever got caught, they were teased mercilessly. On the bright side, it helped Percy come up with the good idea he was about to tell her now. 

As all of this was going through his head, Percy realized Annabeth was looking at him expectantly. 

“Sorry,” he said, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “Um, do you—uh…” 

“Spit it out, Seaweed Brain.” 

“Right, sorry. Can you come to the water with me?” he managed to stammer out. 

Annabeth shifted her weight on her feet and looked down. “Um, I don’t know. I…” The words died on her lips as she looked up and made eye contact with him. “Sure, Percy. Let’s go.” 

Percy grinned at her, and she smiled right back. _Her smile is so pretty_ , he thought. He shook himself out of his thoughts, realizing she was already walking towards the water. 

Once they got there, he and Annabeth just stood there looking at each other. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked. 

Annabeth smiled. “Hmm let me think about it. Didn’t you blow up Mount Saint Helens? And fire a war cannon at the age of ten? ” she joked. 

Percy locked eyes with her. “Annabeth,” he said softly, but with a serious tone. 

“Yes,” she said without hesitating. “I trust you, Percy.” 

“Okay,” he said, smiling at her. For a second, Percy forgot about his plan, just getting lost in Annabeth. “You know how I can, like, stay dry when I go in the water?” 

Annabeth nodded. 

“I can also keep you dry if you’re, um, touching me.” 

“Oh,” she said. 

“Um, yeah. So…” Percy held out his hand. 

Annabeth looked at it hesitantly. Then she looked up at him and took his hand. 

Percy led them into the water, and surprisingly, Annabeth didn’t question him, just followed wordlessly. 

Percy willed himself to stay dry and extended that power to Annabeth. He heard her gasp when their feet hit the water. _I guess that means it worked_ , he thought. 

Once they were fully submerged, Percy formed an air bubble. Not just around their heads, but their whole bodies, so they could stand. 

“I thought we could hang out here,” Percy said to Annabeth, who was still holding his hand, looking around them in awe. “This way no one can, uh, bother us. 

Annabeth looked at him with an expression Percy couldn't quite place. Then she let go of his hand, and Percy started to freak out. _Did she not like it? Did she think this was stupid? Did she think he was stupid? Oh gods, Annabeth thought he was stupid._

As all these thoughts were flashing around his head, Annabeth stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. 

For a second, Percy was too stunned to move. Then, he wrapped his arms firmly around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer. She buried her head in his neck, leaving him to bury his in her hair. He smelled her lemon shampoo, something that was just so _Annabeth_ to him. He smiled into her hair, realizing he was probably one of the few people who would be able to say they knew this intimate detail about Annabeth. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re obnoxiously sweet?” Annabeth asked. Her voice was slightly muffled by his neck, but Percy thought it was quite clear. 

“If I remember correctly, you said I was ‘too nice’ when we were thirteen.”

Annabeth laughed, and somehow Percy smiled even wider. Annabeth’s laugh just did that to him. Especially when he was the one who caused it. 

“Thank you,” Annabeth murmured. 

“For what?” 

“For this. For being you.”

Percy was glad she couldn’t see his face because he was definitely blushing. Not trusting his voice, he just squeezed her waist tighter. 

Percy closed his eyes, and just focused on the present. He took a mental picture, something his mom had taught him when he was a kid in boarding school. If there was a memory he wanted to remember forever, but was scared of forgetting, he was supposed to take a mental snapshot. This was so he could later share the memories with her when he came home. In reality, there were more memories Percy would rather forget then remember forever, but it was something he started to do more often now that he had camp. He was so scared of forgetting about the magic of this place, he found himself taking hundreds of mental pictures so it would never be forgotten. And though Percy took a mental snapshot of this moment, he knew even if he didn’t he would never forget how it felt to be holding Annabeth like this. 

Percy reluctantly pulled away, opting to grab her hand instead. 

“Let’s sit down,” he suggested. 

As he guided her to sit, still holding her hand, he finally looked around at the things that weren’t Annabeth. He could see all the fish and other sea creatures swimming about around them. He turned to look at Annabeth, but she was also taking in their surroundings. She had this look on her face, a mix of wonder and amazement. Percy decided that was one of his favorites looks she had. Annabeth didn’t get impressed too easily, and the fact that he was able to, made him smile. 

Much to Percy’s dismay, Annabeth let go of his hand. But then she turned to look at him, and their eyes met. Under normal circumstances, Percy would have looked away blushing. But this was different, this _felt_ different. So he kept looking at her until she spoke. 

“Do you do this a lot?” she asked. “Make underwater bubbles, I mean.” 

“Yeah,” Percy replied. “But I’ve never, like, brought anyone with me. You’re the first.” 

“Oh,” Annabeth said, blushing. “Maybe... maybe this can be, like, our thing.” 

“I thought fighting monsters, quests, and near-death experiences were our things.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Seaweed Brain. Those are definitely our things, but they all suck. Like, really fucking suck. We need one thing of ours that’s actually good. That’s just...”

“Easy,” Percy supplied. “We need one easy thing that’s just for us. Something that actually makes us happy and doesn’t fucking suck.” 

Annabeth nodded, smiling. Percy liked her smile. It helped him remember that even though demigods’ lives were hard, they were still capable of being happy. 

At that moment, Percy realized just how close they were in the bubble. He also realized he was staring at her lips, probably more than a best friend should. One quick look at Annabeth and he saw she was also staring at his lips, probably more than a best friend should. But there were never _just_ best friends, were they? 

“Percy,” Annabeth said softly. “About the prophecy—” 

“No,” Percy said firmly. “Let’s not talk about the prophecy, okay? Let’s just be normal kids for a bit.” 

“Perce, we’re literally in a bubble underwater.” 

Percy rolled his eyes. “Okay, Wise Girl, that’s true. Other than the underwater bubble, let's just be normal kids for a bit.” 

“Okay,” Annabeth said as she turned to look away from him. 

_Nice job, Percy._ He thought. _You could’ve kissed the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen, and you missed your chance._

Annabeth reached out to intertwine their fingers, and any negative thoughts were promptly wiped from his mind. Then, she leaned to rest her head on his shoulder, and any thoughts at all were wiped from his mind. Because seriously, how could he be thinking when Annabeth was being this vulnerable with him? 

Percy then leaned his head atop of hers, and he could feel her smile. 

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, but also seconds. This was definitely their thing now, and it definitely didn’t fucking suck. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much reading! this is my first fanfic (that's why it sucks lmao) so it took me a lot of courage to post. i genuinely hoped you enjoyed!


End file.
